I had planned a weekend trip to Los Angeles to see this exhibit when it was mounted, but my purse was stolen the day I planned to leave, and so I no longer had the money to make the trip. As a consolation, I bought the book instead, and immersed myself in trying to find out more about what I had missed. It turned out to be an excellent investment. If you want to understand how the tragedy of the arts fitted into the larger tragedy of human lives in Nazi Germany, this book will explain it for you. My favorite essay is Peter Guenther's "Three Days in Munich, July 1937," which gives a highly readable eyewitness account of the original "Degenerate Art" exhibit staged by Hitler and his cronies.

The book also includes a detailed description of the exhibit, explanations of how the exhibit design influenced the viewers, and short biographies of every artist included, as well as examples of their work, many of which were destroyed.